OCHO PIEZAS PARA PIANO A CUATRO MANOS – JUAN ANTONIO CUÉLLAR (1966 – )
These are piano duet versions of 8 of 24 pieces originally composed for brass band and commissioned by the Colombian Culture Institute. These short and „approachable“ pieces were written with the purpose of bringing musicians and audiences closer to characteristic European and North American repertoire from the first half of the 20th century and therefore they combine Colombian rhythms with elements and techniques used by composers like Bartók, Stravinsky, Copland and Messiaen.
Audio: Juan Manuel Nieto
Recorded: Bremen, September 2016
MÁQUINA III – ANTONIO CORREA (KOLUMBIEN)
This piece is for two pianos by colombian pianist and composer Antonio Correa:
http://antoniocorreac.tumblr.com/
https://soundcloud.com/antonio-correa
Hier some notes from the composer himself:
„A funny little thing about the title of the piece: Máquina I and Máquina II never left the early draft stage, so there is no real reason to actually call this particular piece Máquina III. Somehow, the title makes sense to me, and I would not have it any other way.
The piece was written in May of 2009 and it was originally conceived for two harpsichords. Very soon I realized that my pretension to have this piece actually performed on harpsichords did not make sense in the musical environment I was involved in back in 2009 was ludicrous. Maybe today, as my pieces have gradually gained some popularity outside my own country, I should revisit the issue. For now, I am more than happy this piece lives on as a piano duo.
In any case, the whole idea of the piece was to create a sort of mechanism, an assemblage of two instrumental parts that could create a larger “being”, but as the American composer Marc Mellits mentions regarding his own “machines” the result is much more interesting than the simple addition of parts. Indeed, I attempted to give room for the rising of musical events that could not have been foreseen when I was writing the individual parts (improbable melodies, awkward chords, things like that). The result is this motoric piece that it doesn’t seem able to stop by itself. It just stops because it has run out of energy.“
MR. MCARTHUR – ANTONIO CORREA (KOLUMBIEN)
This piece is also for two piano composed by Antonio Correa
http://antoniocorreac.tumblr.com/
https://soundcloud.com/antonio-correa
From the composer:
„In 2009 I got a commission for an ensemble piece that called for trumpet, electric guitar, cello, bass and piano. When working on my sketches for it I saw the potential in it as a multiple piano piece so I decided to work on two separate versions at the same time, thus Mr. McArthur came into existence. It is my understanding that the ensemble version of it was played once by the people that commissioned it and never again performed by them (my guess is that they did not like the music one bit, but felt compelled to play it). I never made the score available to other ensembles, as I felt discouraged by the poor reception the piece had by my commissioners. As for the multiple piano version, it only existed in the form of a recording, as it was simply impossible to have the amount of pianos required to play the music available to me in a concert situation.
The piece itself is in way homage to Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera, or better recognition of the deep impression the last movement from his first Piano Sonata caused me as a piano student. Much in the guise of the music I was writing at the time, it is energetic music that makes great demands on the performers, perhaps not technically but in terms of intention and character. “
DOLORES GRADUALES – NICOLÁS OSPINA (KOLUMBIEN)
This is a piece for Piano Four-hands by colombian pianist and composer Nicolás Ospina.
Traslated is something like „gradually pains“ and is an experiment of the composer to create something within the logic of minimal music. Nicolás couldn`t get off of his head a theme he thought it should be the melody of an old song from the atlantic coast of Colombia: „Dolores tiene un piano“. But the melody he remembered not only was in minor mode but completely different from the original song. He began to compose this piece based on the melody he remembered and months later realized that his melody was completely different from the original one.
The main idea basically consist on the gradually development of the material, which also gradually disappears until the end of the piece. This material consist in small „units“ that have to be repeated frequently. For this reason the lenght of the piece always varies on every performance.
GOTTES ZEIT IST DIE ALLERBESTE ZEIT BWV 106 – (BACH/KURTÁG)
This is a transcription for piano four hands by György Kurtág of the Sonatina from the Cantata BWV 106 „Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit“ from J.S. Bach´s.
Recorded in Bremen- 2016
Audio: Juan Manuel Nieto
